Six overseas travellers who reported they were fully vaccinated have tested positive for COVID-19 while in hotel quarantine, authorities have revealed.
The numbers were released in this week’s NSW Health COVID-19 surveillance report as the federal government pushes forward with its vaccine passport plans.
The report states six people in the NSW hotel quarantine system tested positive over four weeks ending on May 1, despite reporting they were vaccinated prior to landing in Australia.
The figures raise concerns about the prospects of a vaccine passport system as Scott Morrison comes under increasing pressure to repatriate Australians stranded overseas.
NSW Health noted that all six may have contracted the potentially deadly virus prior to their vaccination becoming fully effective.
The report stated a dose does not become fully effective until two weeks after the patient receives the second of a two-dose vaccine.
Mr Morrison this week said his government was working on a prospective vaccine passport system, which would allow those with the jab to travel more freely.
You might soon require a digital vaccination passport that allows people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 to travel, and more.
He noted a condition of such a system would be proof that vaccines protect travellers against the transmission of the virus.
The prime minister also expressed concerns about the effectiveness of home isolation.
Mr Morrison’s vaccine passport comments came as he said that the government was set to lift its India travel ban on May 15.
